Brown Girl Beauty Myths: No Botox, Boob Jobs, or Butt Lifts?

Brown Girl Beauty Myth

"No Botox, Boob Jobs, or Butt Lifts?" by Dre Brown

For most of my life, the only brown girl I'd ever known with an affinity for changing her facial features was my childhood treasure: Mrs. Potato Head. I couldn't recall anyone within my community who'd even considered going under the knife in the name of beauty. The myth that sistas "don't do the whole plastic surgery thing" was one I'd taken as truth for years, until I recently discovered that increasing numbers of brown girls are readily signing up to plump their pouts and prune their noses. That's right, ladies, the jig is up!!!

Celebrity makeup artist Sam Fine and I continue our myth-busting crusade here, where with the help of New York City-based plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Kornstein, we find that brown girls are and have been considering their cosmetic enhancement options for years.

The sheer taboo of cosmetic surgery is partly to blame for this beauty myth. It can be a "don't ask, don't tell" topic for some. "The stigma is rooted in judgement, and the fear of it," Sam suggests. Couple that with mainstream media's tendency to address minority beauty trends less frequently, and it's not hard to see how many brown girls might assume their fellow sistas are avoiding Botox and boob-jobs. With countless blog and television reports focused on the alleged extreme alterations of celebs like Heidi Montag and Janice Dickinson, one could easily overlook the numerous famous brown girls rumored to also have "scalpel stories"—from actresses Vivica A. Fox and Halle Berry to Janet Jackson and rapper Lil' Kim—leaving her with a skewed perspective of cosmetic surgery's clientele.

With an intimate view into the beauty regimes of legions of women of color both in and out of the public eye, Sam shares, "cosmetic surgery is very similar to makeup artistry. Both are an art. Who you hire will determine the type of work you receive."

As trend would have it, women of color are now shopping for surgeons as openly as they do in search of a trusted makeup artist. Yet, Dr. Kornstein admits he encountered African American women considering cosmetic surgery as far back as 20 years ago. He proposes that the taboo prior to this recent trend may have stemmed from cultural pressures for women of color to be proud of who they are by embracing certain unique features, and that more recent shifts suggest these previously heavy pressures are now far weaker in influencing brown girls' consideration of plastic surgery. "People are living longer and feeling better because they're taking better care of themselves. They want what they see in the mirror to be commensurate with how they feel," explains Dr. Kornstein.

So with this increased openness, one might wonder: what are brown girls opting for in cosmetic surgery? Liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose job), and breast reduction topped the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' 2010 list of procedures most undergone by African-Americans. Also, reports suggest other scalpel-free procedures like Botox are rising in popularity as some sistas seek ways to pad their slight natural anti-aging advantage. Dr. Kornstein suggests choices individual women make about plastic surgery really depend on their personal facial and body "aesthetic priorities," which are born from what they feel will look best with their bodies.

What many brown beauties may not realize in subscribing to this myth is that cosmetic surgery, like makeup and skincare, is a beauty resource, the utility of which is determined by one's unique needs, and ultimately by what the user wants to see in the mirror. Like many other procedures, cosmetic surgery may be utilized for maintenance of one's natural beauty, and "doesn't necessarily speak to a lack of self esteem," Sam offers.

So, regardless of on what side of the proverbial "cosmetic surgery fence" you stand, knowing your beauty options and how they may help meet your needs makes for a more enlightened (and virtually beauty myth-proof) approach to loving and maintaining your fabulousness!

Driven to infuse each encounter with joy-inducing laughter, Dre Brown seeks to offer those she reaches both something for the eye and for the soul. Based out of New York City, Dre splits her time between makeup artistry, hair styling, strategic marketing, writing and entrepreneurship. Follow her exploits on her blog: a Dre in The Life and her Beautylish series "Confessions of a Nouveau Natural Woman"

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Image courtesy of Allure